In this still image from video provided by WCBS-TV, convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, left, arrives at a federal courthouse in New York with his wife, Esther, to check in at a probation office just hours after he was released from prison on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. Pollard's release was the culmination of an extraordinary espionage case that complicated American-Israeli relations for 30 years and became a periodic bargaining chip between two allies. (Ilana Gold/WCBS-TV via AP) less

In this still image from video provided by WCBS-TV, convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, left, arrives at a federal courthouse in New York with his wife, Esther, to check in at a probation office just hours after ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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BUTNER, NC - NOVEMBER 20: The fence around the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina where convicted Israel spy Jonathan Pollard was released from is seen on November 20, 2015 in Butner, North Carolina. Pollard, 61, spent 30 years in prison after being caught selling American intelligence secrets to Israel. The prison camp houses three levels of security on the multi-building Federal Correctional Institute campus. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images) less

BUTNER, NC - NOVEMBER 20: The fence around the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina where convicted Israel spy Jonathan Pollard was released from is seen on November 20, 2015 in Butner, North Carolina. ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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(FILES) - A file picture taken on May 12, 2008 shows an Israeli right-wing demonstrator holding a poster calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American who was jailed for life in 1987 on charges of spying on the United States, during a demonstration in Jerusalem. Pollard has been released in the US after 30 years in jail, a group campaigning for his release for decades told AFP on November 20, 2015. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMARJOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES) - A file picture taken on May 12, 2008 shows an Israeli right-wing demonstrator holding a poster calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American who was jailed for life in 1987 on ... more

Photo: AFP / Getty Images

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FILE 2014 DECEMBER 4: Retired teacher Miriam Moskowitz, 98, will appear in court seeking to exonerate her name from a 1947 conviction for spying prior to the infamous spying trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: Sophie Rosenberg, mother of Julius Rosenberg, a civilian engineer with the US Army Signal Corps, is surrounded in February 1954 in New York by her grandsons Michael (R) and Robert, eight months after the execution of they parents for espionage. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, husband and wife, joined in 1939 the US Communist Party, and were in 1950 convicted of being part of a transatlantic spy ring uncovered after the trial of Klaus Fuchs in Britain. They were found guilty in a highly controversial trial of passing on atomic secrets to the Soviet Union and became the first US civilians to be executed for espionage in Sing Sing Prison 19 June 1953. Their sons were later adopted by the Meeropol family. (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images) less

FILE 2014 DECEMBER 4: Retired teacher Miriam Moskowitz, 98, will appear in court seeking to exonerate her name from a 1947 conviction for spying prior to the infamous spying trial of Julius and Ethel ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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Matthew Miller, a U.S. citizen, sits on the dock at the Supreme Court during his trial in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014. North Korea's Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced Miller to six years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and trying to commit espionage. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) less

Matthew Miller, a U.S. citizen, sits on the dock at the Supreme Court during his trial in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014. North Korea's Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced Miller to six years of ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson participated in a news conference where Holder announced that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. (AP Photo) less

This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson participated in a news conference where Holder announced that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. (AP Photo) less

This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson participated in a news conference where Holder announced that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. (AP Photo) less

This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson participated in a news conference where Holder announced that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. (AP Photo) less

This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton and FBI Executive Associate Director Robert Anderson participated in a news conference where Holder announced that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. (AP Photo) less

This wanted poster is displayed at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014, after Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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FILE - This May 19, 2014 file photo shows press material displayed at the Justice Department in Washington before a press conference by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to announce charges of economic espionage and trade secret theft against five Chinese military officers, all hackers in an international cyber-espionage case. In the two weeks since the Obama administration accused them of hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets, the Chinese officers have yet to be placed on Interpols public listing of international fugitives, and there is no evidence that China would even entertain a formal request by the U.S. to extradite them. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) less

FILE - This May 19, 2014 file photo shows press material displayed at the Justice Department in Washington before a press conference by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to announce charges of economic ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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In this Dec. 11, 2014 file photo, CIA Director John Brennan speaks during a news conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Brennan has ordered a sweeping reorganization of the spy agency, an overhaul designed to make its leaders more accountable, enhance the agencys cyber capabilities and shore up espionage gaps exacerbated by a decade of focus on counterterrorism. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) less

In this Dec. 11, 2014 file photo, CIA Director John Brennan speaks during a news conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Brennan has ordered a sweeping reorganization of the spy agency, an overhaul ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge presents the keynote address during Kaspersky Lab's annual CyberSecurity Summit called "The State of Enterprise IT Security" April 15, 2014 at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, Calif. The event started off with a keynote address from Ridge and then held a panel discussion on "Defending against Targeted Attacks in the Age of Cyber-Espionage" and continued with various speakers throughout the day. less

Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge presents the keynote address during Kaspersky Lab's annual CyberSecurity Summit called "The State of Enterprise IT Security" April 15, 2014 at the St. Regis ... more

Photo: San Francisco Chronicle

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The US national flag is displayed outside the building of the US embassy in Berlin, on July 10, 2014, few hours after Germany expelled the US secret services station chief in Berlin in an escalating row over alleged American spying against its long-time European ally. The worst diplomatic rift in years comes after two suspected US spy cases were uncovered in less than a week in Germany, where anger still simmers over the NSA surveillance scandal sparked by fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. AFP PHOTO / JOHN MACDOUGALLJOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images less

The US national flag is displayed outside the building of the US embassy in Berlin, on July 10, 2014, few hours after Germany expelled the US secret services station chief in Berlin in an escalating row over ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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File - In this March 8, 2012, file photo, Robert Maegerle, left, walks out of a federal courthouse with attorney Jerome Froelich Jr. in San Francisco. Maegerle, a retired DuPont engineer, was convicted of economic espionage charges along with chemical engineer Walter Liew in March. Liew is facing more than 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Thursday, July 10, 2014, for a rare economic espionage conviction for selling technology for a white pigment to China. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) less

File - In this March 8, 2012, file photo, Robert Maegerle, left, walks out of a federal courthouse with attorney Jerome Froelich Jr. in San Francisco. Maegerle, a retired DuPont engineer, was convicted of ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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** FILE ** FBI agent Robert Hanssen is seen in this undated FBI file photo. A new entry in the well-thumbed index of FBI missteps is raising questions about whether the bureau is up to the job of protecting Americans from terrorism. Critics inside Congress and those watching intently from the sidelines says the agency's failure to run an important pre-Sept. 11 memo up the chain of command shows weaknesses broader than the lapses of a few managers. (AP Photo/FBI Files) less

** FILE ** FBI agent Robert Hanssen is seen in this undated FBI file photo. A new entry in the well-thumbed index of FBI missteps is raising questions about whether the bureau is up to the job of protecting ... more

Photo: AP

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In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Defense Department officials say hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website. (AP Photo/U.S. Army, File) less

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Defense Department officials say hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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FILE In this March 31, 2015 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama on Wednesday authorized a new U.S. government approach to deterring cyberattacks: financial sanctions against malicious overseas hackers and companies that knowingly benefit from the fruits of cyber espionage. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) less

FILE In this March 31, 2015 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama on Wednesday authorized a new U.S. government approach to ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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In a booking mug shot from the FBI, John Arthur Walker is arrested for espionage in 1985. Walker, a former Navy communications specialist who ran what was called one of the most damaging spy operations in history, died on Aug. 28, 2014 after spending nearly 30 years in federal prison. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via The New York Times) -- FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. less

In a booking mug shot from the FBI, John Arthur Walker is arrested for espionage in 1985. Walker, a former Navy communications specialist who ran what was called one of the most damaging spy operations in ... more

Photo: New York Times

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FILE- In this March 12, 1951 file photo, David Greenglass, one-time Los Alamos atom bomb project employee, is shown in Federal Court in New York in handcuffs. He testified against his sister and two others accused of passing atomic secrets to Russia. A New York judge has ordered the release of Greenglasss grand jury testimony from 1950, that may give new fuel to suspicions that his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, was unjustly convicted of espionage and put to death for conspiring to give nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. (AP Photo/Tom Fitzsimmons, File) less

FILE- In this March 12, 1951 file photo, David Greenglass, one-time Los Alamos atom bomb project employee, is shown in Federal Court in New York in handcuffs. He testified against his sister and two others ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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FILE - In this April 26, 1956, file photo, David Greenglass sits beside Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Oreto, left, in Washington. A federal judge in New York ordered the release of Greenglasss grand jury testimony from 1950, saying that it can be released because Greenglass died in 2014 at age 92. The ruling may give new fuel to suspicions that Greenglass sister, Ethel Rosenberg, was unjustly convicted of espionage and put to death in 1953 for conspiring to give nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin, File) less

FILE - In this April 26, 1956, file photo, David Greenglass sits beside Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Oreto, left, in Washington. A federal judge in New York ordered the release of Greenglasss grand jury ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2014 file photo, a taxi passes in front of the fabled Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Concerned about potential security risks, the U.S. government is taking a close look at last weeks sale of New Yorks iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel to a Chinese insurance company. U.S. officials said Monday they are reviewing the Oct. 6 purchase of the Waldorf by the Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group, which bought the hotel from Hilton Worldwide for $1.95 billion. Terms of the sale allow Hilton to run the hotel for the next 100 years and call for a major renovation that officials say has raised eyebrows in Washington, where fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyber espionage run high. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) less

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2014 file photo, a taxi passes in front of the fabled Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Concerned about potential security risks, the U.S. government is taking a close look at last ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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(FILES)Posters with portraits of five Cubans jailed in the United States - Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, Fernando Gonzalez Llort(C), Ramon Labanino Salazar and Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez - are dispayed in this April 7, 2010 file photo in front of Cuba's Consulate in Sao Pablo, Brazil. One of the so-called "Cuban Five" -- intelligence agents convicted in a 2001 US spy case that made them heroes in Havana -has been told he will be released from prison, his lawyer told a Miami newspaper on January 29, 2014. Fernando Gonzalez, who is serving a 17-year prison sentence for not registering as a foreign agent and possessing false identity papers, would be the second member of the group to be released. His lawyer Ira Kurzban told El Nuevo Herald newspaper that the Bureau of Federal Prisons had set Fernandez's release for February 27 for good conduct. Fernandez was arrested in 1998 along with four other Cuban intelligence agents for infiltrating the Key West Naval Air Station and Cuban exile groups in Miami.AFP PHOTO / Nelson ALMEIDANELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES)Posters with portraits of five Cubans jailed in the United States - Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, Fernando Gonzalez Llort(C), Ramon Labanino Salazar and Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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FBI warns of spies targeting researchers

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The same week that Jonathan Pollard walked out of a U.S prison after serving 30 years for spying on behalf of Israel, U.S. federal agents, academics and information technology specialists gathered in Houston to discuss this region’s vulnerability to espionage.

When it comes to espionage, it might not seem that foreign governments would target cancer and other medical research, but the FBI is warning that academics and others who work in disciplines that might seem far removed from national security to be on guard.

Foreign governments and their companies _ as well as elements of organized crime _ are known to try and infiltrate academia to steal work that can be reproduced back home without having to spend the time and money the United States has put into research and development.

The infiltrators can knock at the door in person or via the Web, as well as other avenues, the FBI and others contend.

As Michael Baker, who worked for 17 years for the Central Intelligence Agency, put it, there is just about nothing they aren’t interested in stealing.

“It is a very aggressive world out there, whether we are talking about state sponsored actors or private companies,” said Baker, who is co-founder of Diligence, a business intelligence firm based in New York.

He said that he was of aware of a case in the past in which a man from China enrolled in a U.S. university’s graduate program on behalf of his nation’s intelligence agency. His only mission was to do well in the program, graduate and get a job, then another job and another job. As he would work, he would climb the ladder and burrow himself into the United States.

The matter is probed more thoroughly in this houstonchronicle.com article for subscribers. The article takes a look at a recent gathering of academics, information technology experts and federal agents that was held behind closed doors at the FBI Houston Division headquarters.

“The work they are doing is crucial to us getting ahead,” said James Morrison, a computer scientist for the FBI.

“They do the research that eventually helps us get ahead in oil and gas, energy and medical (industries) but if we lose that technology before it leaves the university, we gain nothing,” he said.

The challenge, officials say, is that universities by their very nature are open environments where ideas are researched, shared and discussed over local, national and international lines.

It is no secret that in many graduate programs, especially those driven by science and math, there are many graduate students who are from abroad and have nothing but good intentions.

“Awareness needs to be heightened across the industry,” said Robert Emery, vice president for safety at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “I don’t think the average person in academia appreciates the scope of the situation.”

Stacy LeBlanc, research department administrator for MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, said foreign governments know the U.S. is the leader in many areas.

“Basic science research is expensive, and if they don’t have to do it, they would rather not,” she said. “We invent the wheel; they don’t have to invent the wheel anymore.”